Viking Therapeutics' (VKTX) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Key Points

• Viking Therapeutics' stock has been reaffirmed with a "buy" rating by HC Wainwright, who set a target price of $102.00, indicating a potential upside of 297.23% from the previous close.
• Viking's financial performance showed a loss of ($0.58) earnings per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate by ($0.14).
• Institutional investors now own 76.03% of Viking Therapeutics, reflecting significant interest from hedge funds and financial entities recently.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $102.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 297.23% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.42.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $25.68. 741,666 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,823,608. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $29.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.99. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.85 and a beta of 0.73. Viking Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). The business's revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at $66,386,789.20. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 58.4% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD.

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